Overall support for the chaplains program was high, but was lower in government schools, among parents (58%) and students (54%).
Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP

Almost one in five public school parents have objected to religious views being shared with their children through school chaplains, a review has found.

The review by research consultancy Kantar Public for the education department found that parents have a “lack of knowledge regarding the actual role” of chaplains, with most unsure how chaplains deal with the most serious issues including sexuality, alcohol and drug abuse, self harm and suicide.

Despite the review showing majority support for the program, secular activists have seized on indications from both supporters and opponents that faith is discussed in schools despite its rules banning proselytising.

Overall support for the program was high, with 91% of parents in favour. The review found that two-thirds of parents felt there was no disadvantage to chaplaincy services, but support was lower in government schools (58%) and among students themselves (54%).

Some 11% of parents overall objected to religious views being shared with their children, rising to 18% of parents in government schools.

Some 5% of students surveyed wanted chaplains to be more present, while some objected to the religious aspect of the program (5%) and others said it detracted from learning time (3%).

“There were a proportion of parents and students (particularly from government schools) who preferred religious views were not shared,” the report said.

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“This was driven by the perception that chaplaincy services included sharing or teaching of religious views and values, and therefore, felt better suited to private schools or religious families.”

When asked how the program could be improved, most parents asked for more information about the program (24%), many asked for extra funding (10%) and others called for the program to be removed outright (4%) or objected to its religious nature (3%).

The school chaplains program, which is federally funded but delivered by state governments, requires chaplains to be recognised by an organised religion, which secular activists argue is discriminatory and will soon be the subject of a challenge in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The survey found students said the advantages of the program were an accessible figure to talk to (24%), support with problems (22%), guidance to help them understand or “figure things out” (13%), and “being encouraged in their faith” (13%).

Parents said the key advantages of chaplains were provision of extra support (31%), providing a figure students can trust (24%) and encouraging students in the faith/spiritual aspect of their lives (15%).

The Rationalist Society of Australia president, Meredith Doig, seized on those findings, telling Guardian Australia “the fact these statistics appear at all is proof that the prohibition of proselytising is simply not working”.

“At the Rationalists, we are not calling for the abandonment of the program,” she said.

“It is clear there is a need and that need should be filled. But there is no reason why this work cannot be done by suitably qualified non-religious pastoral care officers.”

The report found that chaplains were involved in delivery of religious studies in 26% of the Catholic and independent schools and 7% of government schools surveyed, which is permitted in opt-in religious instruction classes.

When asked to evaluate the effectiveness of the program on various issues the majority of parents, principals and chaplains rated it “extremely well” on issues including fostering a sense of purpose and self-esteem, peer relationships and social inclusion.

But on many issues more parents were unsure of the program than those who rated it highly. On alcohol and drug abuse 24% of parents rated the program an 8-10 on a 10 point scale while 66% said they didn’t know. On sexuality 26% rated it extremely well compared with 63% who didn’t know.

The report was based on a survey of 477 principals, 498 chaplains, 1,038 parents and 134 students in October and November 2016 and was received by the government in March 2017.

Peter Monk, a National Secular Lobby board member, said the report “confirms that chaplains, even in our secular independent and public schools, are proselytising to students”.

Paul Willis, a spokesman for the National Secular Lobby, said the report emphasised the need for “properly trained councillors in our schools”.

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“It is absolutely outrageous that suitably qualified councillors cannot operate within the [chaplains’ program] unless they are part of a religious organisation,” he said.

In Senate estimates on Thursday Birmingham defended the program, saying he was “quite struck in the lead-up to this year’s budget by the number of communications I had from principals, chairs of school councils, students” who had supported it.

He said they had “outlined a range of personal circumstances where chaplains have assisted them in times of bereavements, treatment for issues such as cancer, family breakdowns, [and] bullying issues”.

Under questioning from Hanson-Young about what constituted proselytising, Birmingham said it was an “attempt to convert someone to a particular religion or belief”. He said that quoting the Bible is not necessarily proselytising.

In a statement Hanson-Young said if “nobody knows what’s prohibited [by the rule against proselytising], nothing is prohibited”.